Internal-combustion engine.



' .ticular application to the invention consists Beritknown that I,

, untilthetime of the spar In'carrying out the present invention, it ismy purpose to provide a device whereby the combustion chamber andcylanna an. IRWIN, or JOHN-STOWN, PENNSYLVANIA" x'nrnnnan-colvnau'srronnneinn.

. Specification of Letters Patent. Patented NOV. 14 1916,

application filed March 27, 1915.; seiia1 No. 17,404.

' To all whom it may concern: EDGAR D. IRWIN, a

citizen of the United States of America,

residing at Johnstown, in the county of Cambria and State ofPennsylvania, have invented new and useful ImprovementsInternal-Combustion Engines, of which the following-is a. specification.

's invention relates to improvements in internal combustion engines andhas parmeans for holding the :gasmthe. combustionchamber out'of contact-with the terminals of the; spark plug the gas 1n inder will beheldout of contact with the terminals of the sparkplug' during thecompression Stroke of the piston so as to pre; vent the rapidaccumulationof' carbon in for its intended purpose. 85

' tion and the spark plug connected therewith being shown in sideelevation. Fig. 2

. is a similar view showing a modified con- .cylinder equipped with athreaded .inte lY-l With the above and other objects in view, in theconstruction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter set forthin and falling within the scope of the claim.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 isv a fragmentary longitudinalsectional view through an internal combustion engine device constructedIn accordance with the present invention, the device being shown inlongitudinal secstruction of the device. U

-Referring now to the drawing in detail, Iedesignates ,a cylinder of aninternal combustion engine formed" with an'- .'-opening 2 the. opening2," in this instance, being formed in the impwalls of the:- cylinder.Threaded into the ope s a" P ugs t rme .ni h is sr inees and a recessof. the bore 4 and opening onto the inner surface of the plug 3.- Formedon the top side of the plug 3 concentrically of the bore 4 and.upstanding from the plug is a sleeve 6 and slidably mounted and the bore4 is a valve stem 7.

Within the sleeve 6 The lower end. of the stem 7 is equipped with avalve disk 8 adapted to The plug 3 is also formed with a recess 10having the wall thereof screwtllreaded and this recess 10 is disposed atan acute angle to the bore 4531K].

the lower endo-f the recess 10 is in open communication with the recess5 by way of a channel 11. Threaded into the recess 10 isa spark plug'12.Suitably secured to the upper end of the stem 7 is a collar 13 and kencircling the sleeve 6 is an expansion spring 14 having the lower endabutting the plug 3 and the upper. extremity in engagement with thecollar 13, such spring serving to hold the valve 8 normally closed.

15 designates a tappet arm and one end the upper exwhile the re theupper end of the cylinder 1 of the tappet arm 15 engages trem'ity of thevalve stem 7 maining end of the tappet arm is pivotally connected withthe upper end of -a vertical valve rod 17, the lower end of the verticalvalve rod 17 being a cam 18.

In practice, held against the seat 9 under the action. of the spring 14:so that on the compression stroke of the piston in the cylinder 1 thegas in the combustion chamber will be held under the influence of out ofcontact with the terminals of the 5 spark plug 12. At the time that thespark is to occur the cam 18 engages the lower endof the valve rod 17and slides the rod 17 upwardly with the effect to swing thetappe'tagainst 1 -arm.15 and so depress the stem 7 the action of the spring 14,thereby ing the valve 8 so that a portion of in the, combustion chamberopenthe gas may flow through the recess 5 and. channel 11 into the zoneof the terminals of the 4'12 and'immediately succeeding the opening ofthe valve 8 the sparkpccurs and so. ig nites the chargeof gasinthea'combustionchamber with the effect 'to explode een charge. and drivethe] 'within the cylinder. gifhe; w

- e ema-ass schism-is 5 contiguous to the inner efidga engage a seat 9formed on 6 the Inner end of the recess 5.

pivoted be 30 tween its ends upon a bracket 16 carried by the valve disk8 is normally spark plug -51 the piston the cam shaft and is so timedthat the valve 8 remains closed during one quarter of a revolution ofthe open during the remaining three quarters of the revolution of suchshaft so that on the power, exhaust and suction strokes of the pistonthe valve will .be open, while on the compression stroke the valve will,be closed As soon as the piston finishes the compression stroke thevalve opens so that a portion of the explosive mixture may enter thevicinity of the terminals of the spark plug to be ignited when the sparkoccurs and on the exhaust stroke of burnt gases are driven away from theterminals of the spark plug, while on the intake stroke any gas In thevicinity of the terminals of the spark plug is with-'- drawn therefromso that on the compression stroke when the valve is closed the willremain out of contact with the terminals of the plug.

.In the modified form of my invention illustrated in Fig. 2 of thedrawing, an opening 19 is formed in the side wall. of the cylinder andmy improved device comprises a plug 20 formed longitudinally with apassage 21 and provided at one end with an exteriorly screwthreadednipple 22 adapted to communicate with the passage 21 and threaded intothe opening 19 in the side wall of the cylinder, the remaining end ofthe plug 20 being formed with a threaded opening contiguous to thepassage 21 and closed by means of a closure plug 23.' The end of thepassage 21 extends upwardly at right angles to itself and thenpper endoft-he right angular portion of the passage 21 is disposed contiguous tothe bore of the nipple 22 and formed on the upper edge of the wall ofthe upwardlyextending portion of the passage 21 is a valve seat 24.Engaging the valve seat 24 is a'valve disk 25 equipped with a stem 26depending from are disk and extending through the bottom wall of theplug 20. Secured to the lower end of the stem 26 is collar 27 andencircling the stem between the collar 27 and the adjacent portion ofthe plug, is an expansion spring 28 acting to hold the valve disk 25normally in engagement with the seat'Q l 29 designates a tappet havingthe upper end thereof connected to the lower end of the stem 26 and thelower extremity disposed within the influence of a cam 30fixed upon acam shaft driven from the engine shaft. The upper portion ofthe plug 20adjacent to the outer end thereof is formed with a vertical recess 31and the lower end of the recess 31 opens into the passage 21 andthreaded into the recess 31 is a spark plug 12. Also formed in the upperportion of the plug 20 adjacent to the recess 31 and coaxial with thevalve seat is an opening and threaded into such opening is a plug 33which may be removed when it is desired to obtain access to the valvedisk and its seat.

The device illustrated in the modified form of the invention and justdescribed opcrates similarly to the preferred form of the device andtherefore a. detail description of the operation of the constructionshown in Fig. 2 is not thought necessary.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, the construction and mode of operation of my invention will bereadily apparent. It will be seen that I have provided means whereby thegas in the combustion chamber is held out of contact with, the terminalsof the plug on the compression stroke of the piston, thereby preventingthe rapid accumulation of carbon on the contact points and prolongingthe life of the plug, and

whereby such gas is permitted to enter the zone of the terminals of theplug at the time of the spark so that the charge in the cylinder will beexploded.

While I have herein shown and described certain preferred forms of myinvention by way of illustration, I wish it to be understood that I donot limit or confine myself to the precise details of constructionherein described and delineated, as modification and variation may bemade within the scope of the claim without departing from the spirit ofthe invention.

I. claim:

A. device of the class described comprising a plug formed with alongitudinally extending passage and provided at one end with aneXte-riorly screwthreaded nipple adapted to engage in the spark plugopening of an engine cylinder and in comunication with said passage, avalve seat formed between the ends thereof, a closure plug closing theother end of said passage, a sleeve depending from said plug inalinement with the valve seat, a Valve stem slidably mounted in saidsleeve, a valve disk on said stem adapted to engage said seat, and aplug threaded into the first-named plug imm ately above the valve seatand removable from the plug so that access may be had to the valve diskand its seat.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' EDGAR D. IRWIN.

Witnesses:

E. WV. GRABMAIR, DAN L. Parsons.

